Dana O'Driscoll 
As I walk through my neighborhood in this quiet Pennsylvania town, I am struck by the contrast. On one hand, many of my neighbor’s lawns are monocropped with grass–one after another, green expanses stretch on and on. Dandelions are quickly sprayed, and uniformity reigns supreme. This is the language of “progress,” the look of industrialization, and the announcement of humanity’s dominance over nature. But yet, on many blocks, one or two households have embraced a different paradigm: kale and strawberries along the front green area between the street and the sidewalk growing for any who want to harvest, pumpkins climbing through hedges, a completely alternative lawn full of herbs that requires loving care, but certainly not mowing. A fully abundant 1/10th of an acre with fruit trees, raised beds, grape arbors, and beautiful carved wooden sculptures. This is a sign, to me, that change and hope are possible and that the language of healing, the language of regeneration, touches the hearts and souls of so many here. Part of this is facilitated by community groups: this town has held an Herb Study Group for over 30 years as well as an avid group of gardeners, and alternative lawns and growing spaces are accepted here (although still not the norm by any means). The contrast between these two spaces, both energetically and physically, is quite impressive. And this isn’t the only kind of regenerated space you can find nearby: after the strip mines complete their work, they are now required by law to return the landscape. Usually, this means planting scrub pines and watching the goldenrod come back in with very limited biodiversity, but occasionally, you find a druid wandering among those places, spreading magic seed balls infused with the energy and light of healing or planting nuts in the bare soils–and the seeds of biodiversity that can help this land transform and regrow the many things that were lost. Now, new ecosystems are being reborn in those places that were once stripped bear.
And, a place I’ll be visiting this summer to do some backpacking is the PA Wilds region, an area with almost 1.5 million acres of forests. These forests were once desolate, logged areas, with almost 100% of the forests being clear cut about a century ago, much of the logging to fuel industrialization and expansion. While these forests are still under threat from fracking and oil exploration (especially in the Allegheny National Forest), many of these lands are regenerated with abundance and life. Even wild elk roam once more!
Truly, as a land healer, being part of spaces that can be, or are being, actively regenerated–and healed– is my favorite kind of work. I say it’s my favorite work because the other work I’ve talked about, in the last four or so posts in this series, where you are witnessing, holding space, sending energy deep into the heart of the earth is all really hard–energetically hard, emotionally hard, and can be physically draining. Its even hard to write about it, which is part of why this has taken me so long to finish what I thought was going to be a short series on the subject! But the work of regeneration, of taking damaged lands and helping them heal–the work of this post: it is work that regenerates the spirit. It grows as you grow, it unfolds and you unfold with it is perfect harmony. This work allows us to share our gifts of creativity, nurturing, healing, and joy and reconnect with the living earth around us.
I’ve really been talking about this subject of land healing seriously for over a year now from different angles, especially focused on the physical regeneration of the land through my posts on healing hands, on refugia gardens, on seed saving and spreading seed balls, on alternative front and back lawns, and even further back on homesteading and my own regeneration work in Michigan. As you can see, I’ve written a lot on this blog about the physical work of land healing as spiritual work, and I want to talk today about the linkages between the physical and spiritual dimensions and the more energetic aspects of this work. Because while the land always has the power to heal–energetic work on our lands can help it heal much, much, faster. Consider this like a burst of healing energy to get the land abundantly growing again! This is, for now at leats, the final post in my Druid’s Primer for Land Healing series, although I do have some more specialized topics planned in the future. You can read the full series of posts here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII. And once you’ve done that, come back, and we will talk about how to heal our lands!
Where Healing Can Happen
I want to return to my very first post in this series briefly, and remind you about the places and spaces where land healing–land regeneration–can happen. This direct healing work should be done not on sites that are actively being damaged outside of your control (repeated logging, strip mines, etc)–this is the work of palliative care, and I refer you to earlier posts in this series. Nor is it the work of a site that is going to be destroyed–this is yet another kind of spiritual and energetic work. Today’s work is for sites that have had damage (whether it is that the ecosystem has been removed because of construction, mining, or even replaced with a lawn) and is in a place where it can now heal again and is free from possible damage in the immediate future. This is really an important distinction to understand, because the wrong kind of energetic work can be damaging. Here’s what I mean: a lot of the techniques I will describe in this post are techniques of the energy of spring and that of fire–its about waking up, getting things flowing again, coaxing the spirits of the land out of deep slumber and hiding. The last thing you want to do is do this work if the land will end up being destroyed so soon again. That’s like rousing a sick person out of bed, and moving when all they really need to do is sleep through the worst of it.
Preparing for Healing Work and Building Relationships: Feeling Your Way Into the Work
If the land has been damaged for some time, the spirits of that land may have fled, gone deeply underground, or are otherwise closed off. I experienced this on my land in Michigan when I first arrived. I remember standing beneath the giant white pine tree, next to the second white pine stump that was its partner and had been cut off haphazardly by the previous owners. I sensed the spirits were there, but there was tremendous sorrow, anger, and resentment of all that had been done to the land. I began, before doing any healing work, with the work of apology and witnessing, acknowledging what had been done and showing that I was a different kind of person and was here to help. I don’t think, at first, I was accepted as someone who would heal. And so, I waited, knowing that things would unfold in their own time and in their own way. The only thing I did during this time was clean up active piles of garbage (like a burn pile) and scattered debris, and then I enacted the first design principle of permaculture: observe and interact.
Shortly after I moved in, a raccoon that had distemper showed up in my yard in the early morning hours. The raccoon was out in the day, and after I determined that he didn’t have rabies based on his symptoms, I sat at a distance, holding space with him, knowing that his time was near. He passed a few hours later. I dug a deep hole, blessed it with flowers and sacred water, and had a small ceremony for him. I covered him up and piled a cairn of rocks quite high, knowing that if his body was left out, the disease would spread. Sure enough, over the next few days, a number of critters tried to get into that hole but were unable to do so due to my careful burial. The distemper was stopped from infecting any other animals. After the raccoon incident, the land opened up, and the actual healing work could begin. I realized that the raccoon was a test, and apparently, I had passed. It was at this point that the spirits of the land spoke to me, shared with me the healing work that was to be done, and I began in earnest. I will also say that that wasn’t the only test, and they come at unexpected times!
A Patchwork of Approaches
No single person’s approach is the “right” approach to land healing work. You may have a very different skillset or background than I do, so I would suggest that you take the approaches here and use the ones that work for you (and I am very interested in hearing approaches you have used–please share!) I would also really strongly encourage you to bring others in for the healing work. For example, my sister is a Reiki Master Teacher, and the way she moves energy is very different than the ways that I do as a Druid. It was a welcome thing for her to come, after I purchased my land for example, and do her own kind of energetic healing. Another friend was an incredible musician and radiated his healing energy out to the land with a series of wonderful folk songs. And so, you might think about the land healing work you do like a colorful patchwork quilt with different designs: many approaches can work, and the more, the merrier! So with that, here are some that I have found particularly effective.
Physical-Energetic-Spirit Connections
The most important aspect of all of this work, whether you are doing music, reiki, ritual, or other sacred work that I describe below is that you understand the relationship between physical healing and energetic healing. You might think about this in an analogy with human beings: we have a physical body, we have emotions/heart, and we have a soul. These are all interlinked, and yet, each needs a different kind of healing energy.
- Our physical regeneration of the land, through tending the wild, scattering seeds, replanting and regrowing, is like the physical regeneration of our bodies. This is building habitat, reintroducing species, and creating spaces for life.
- The energetic regeneration is a lot like helping heal a person’s emotional scars: this is a completely different kind of healing, done by different strategies or even a different kind of healer. This is rebuilding the human-nature connections that have been severed, reconneciton, rebuilding trust.
- The healing of the soul–is like the deep spiritual work we do as humans. I tie this analogy to that of the spirits of the land, those non-corporeal beings that reside in our lands and make magic there. River spirits, tree spirits, larger guardian spirits, animal spirits, plant spirits–so many live in our lands.
It is on all three levels that we can work to provide the most benefit, but working on even one of these levels also benefits the other two in the long run. And, so, today, we explore the healing work we can do on the energetic and spirit levels: that of ritual, sacred spaces, gaurdianship, and more.
A Full Season of Rituals: Infusing with the Blessing of the Sun
I’ve mentioned before the method of drawing energy down from the sun and infusing the land with light as a way to clear energetically bad places, and we are going to build upon that method (which I shared in my last post in this series, including a barebones structure of a ritual that you can use). In the case of land healing when the land is ready for regeneration, I would suggest more than just a single ritual for this work; where in the case of palliative care, one ritual is all you need or want to do. In the case of land healing, I would suggest either a full year of rituals (four, minimum, at the solstices and equinoxes) and, if possible, the setting of a standing stone to permanently channel that light down and within (I explained the standing stone technique more fully in my earlier post I linked above).
In the case of energetic land healing, I find that most of the work I do in this area is drawing energy towards the site and infusing it with healing light. The ritual that I most often use for this is one from the AODA, our seasonal celebrations, which works directly with the three currents and which serve as a land healing and blessing, drawing down the light of the celestial heavens and the sun. I’ve shared a barebones structure of it in my last post. You can purchase the AODA Grove Handbook for a complete version of this ritual for a group (or if you are a member of the AODA, we will be releasing a New Member Guide soon that will include solo versions of the ritual).
You can use the structure I provided in my last post, with one major exception: you are doing a series of rituals instead of just one. The first ritual you do should be the one I outlined in the last post–clearing away the energetic darkness. Think of this like the pain and suffering that need to be healed, and only once they are healed, then the light can come within the land. I kind of see this akin to a clay pot–when you start land healing work, the pot is often filled with negative energy, with darkness, and the first thing you have to do is clear out the stuff that’s already in the pot before you can fill it with something better. So the first ritual does that. You can use any other structure as well, with the intention of clearing the space first.
So a yearly ritual structure for intensively providing energetic healing support to the land might look like this (using the energies of the season as a guide). I’d personally start this work if possible in the Winter Solstice, but starting the work anytime is also appropriate.
- Winter Solstice and/or Spring Equinox: Clearing out the darkness and bringing in some light.
- Spring equinox and/or Summer Solstice: Infusing the land with light for a blessing.
- Summer Solstice and/or Fall Equinox: A second infusing of the land with light for a blessing; establishing guardianship (see below)
- Fall equinox and/or Winter Solstice: A third infusion of the land with light for a blessing; deep listening on the next steps to take.
If you are also setting a standing stone (or even building a stone carin), you can focus your ritual on the stone itself.
For the differences in these four kinds of rituals, visualization is effective: imagine the energy coming down from the star, through the sun, and down into the earth, filling the land with light. Purging of darkness, and then, seeing the light infuse into the land, up into the roots, and so on.
Creating a Sacred Space
I have found that establishing a permanent sacred space on the land (even around the entire land that is undergoing healing, if appropriate) is very effective. I have written on this particular thing in a number of posts, so I refer you to my sacred space series of posts for more information on how to do this. One key here is to listen carefully and to build a sacred space that you can tend and visit often. This might just be leaving a small offering, sitting quietly, observing, meditating–the important thing here is that a sacred space is created by the union of yourself and the land, and your presence is needed for it to continue to function. In the case of my homestead in Michigan, I established the whole property as a sacred space, and worked it diligently in a number of ways. And you should have seen how it grew!
Communing with Spirits
On the matter of healing the soul of the land, we must reach out to the spirits of the land if we are able. Some people have particular gifts in this area in terms of direct communication, while others’ gifts lead them in a different direction. Divination tools can be useful here. I would say, if nothing else, leaving an offering for the spirits (possibly at a shrine you construct as part of the larger sacred space, above), acknowledge the spirits, and most importantly–welcome them back. Let them know that you are doing work here, that the land is no longer in danger, and that it is safe to return. They will take their time, perhaps, in manifesting, but be patient. And look for signs of any kind (see my Druid’s Tree Working posts for how to commune with them, the strategies are very much the same).
Re-establishing Eldership
One of the problems that happen, especially with forests and logging, but really with any site that has been destroyed, is that the land loses its elders. You’ve probably met those elders areas in lands that are whole–the ancient wizened oak, the tall white pines, the ancient elk with a massive rack of horns. These elders are those who have inhabited the land for many cycles of the sun and moon, and who hold presence and history in those spaces. They are like a nexus of energy, with many linkages throughout the forest. They have tremendous energy surrounding them, a strong spirit, and wisdom. The English language fails me here, but I hope you understand. The problem that new lands face is that they have no elders, that presence may have been lost. I have found that part of healing is helping to establish the patterns of eldership. You want to do this carefully and in full support of the land and her spirits, but here are some suggestions. These suggestions really apply to the plant kingdom; I have less experience with animal eldership (but perhaps one of my readers does):
- Stones, rivers, and other inorganic features have been around a very long time. Some stones even hold the patterns of fossils of ancient trees. They can temporarily hold this kind of energy until a living elder grows and is established over time. Living elders are important, however.
- Bringing a piece of an elder from another place can sometimes work. For example, First, find an elder in another place, and see if that elder will let you move a small piece of themselves (like a branch) and place it somewhere you are led to place it.
- Finding the offspring of an elder who was cut (in the case of a tree, as these elders are often trees) and nurturing that new offspring can also be done.
Re-establishing Guardianship
The sacred compact between humans and the land, and the symbiotic relationship between them, is destroyed when the land is stripped bare or otherwise damaged. Re-establishing the human’s role as a guardian and tender of that land is important–and that is something that you can do if you feel led–but only if you feel led. This involves a few steps.
- First, feel this out very carefully, making sure that this is something that the land wants and that you can do. The land may want to be left alone to heal on its own for a time, and you don’t want to be there if you are unwelcome. It also needs to be something that you are making a long-term commitment to, so make sure you are stable enough, and rooted enough, for that kind of commitment.
- Two, if it appears appropriate, making an oath to the land establishing guardianship (I will usually do this as part of a regular ritual at an appropriate day, such as at one of the solstices or equinoxes). Make it clear what you are swearing to, and make sure whatever you swear to, you intend to uphold.
- Three, regular visitation, vigilance, tending, and time spent–the work of the guardian. This can be anything: from going to the land and visiting, being open and listening, to picking up trash, paying attention to the needs of the land, to protecting it from those who would seek to harm.
- Regular work on the land should include gaining knowledge about the land: learning it’s history, learning the dominant species and how they interact, studying botany, learning the names and uses of the trees–enough to know if something is amiss. Spend time on the land–overnight, in quietude, moving around–in all those ways. Build sacred spaces. Bring people there to help heal and grow. Think of this land like your focal point for much of what you do!
The role of guardian of the land is not one to take on lightly, but if you feel compelled to do so, it is a wonderful way of reestablishing those connections and helping the land heal. It is really a lifetime commitment, and I only mention it here because it is so effective for land healing.
The Magic of Seeds
I’ll end my discussion today with two physical healing techniques that I’ve mentioned before: as I discussed in my series of posts on refugia and seed
arc gardens over the winter months, land that is physically healing. When the land has been stripped bare, it needs the genetic material to regenerate. This requires a knowledge of botany and ecology, but you can easily find lists of plants common to your bioregion, including those endangered. The same is true of endangered mammals, birds, amphibians, and bugs–and the kinds of ecosystems they need to be safe. I very much believe in the work of scattering seeds, of tending the wild, and doing this intentionally as a land healer.
These days, I take my magic seed balls–of several varieties–with me everywhere. The wet woodland blend includes seeds of ramps, stoneroot, blue cohosh, and mayflower. The fields blend includes New England aster, milkweed, pluresy root, echinacea, and stinging nettle (all of these plants are on the United Plant Saver’s list, save stinging nettle and NE Aster; these two I added because we just need more of them around!)
A Permablitz
Finally, there is a tremendous amount of power in a group of people, a community, coming together to enact healing work. While this can be done doing ritual, like I described above, it can also be done through the physical work of healing the land. In permaculture terms, we call this a permablitz, and it’s a way for people to come together and quickly replant, regrow, and tend the land. I held a number of permeabilities at my own property and also helped many others in blitzes of their own. The land appreciates this so much, as it provides a counter-narrative to the many hands who had worked to destroy a place for their own gains. These blitzes are generally focused on a restorative approach–perhaps earth working (like swales) to hold water, almost always some planting or scattering seeds, and other kinds of work. People want to feel like they are doing something, and blitzes are not only a great way to heal the land but also to help reconnect many with the living earth.
Concluding Thoughts (for now)!
This series has been going on for quite some months now–I must say, I was surprised by how much I had to say once I started writing. It took a while to come forth, as some of the subjects were quite difficult to talk about, but I hope this material was useful. I hope it is useful as you engage in your own land healing work, whether you’ve been doing land healing for a long time, or whether you are new to this process. I think this the last post, for now, but I expect that this will be a topic I’ll continue to return to from time to time, as I learn new things and grow in new ways. Thank you for staying with me throughout this journey, and I wish you the best in your own land healing endeavors! I’d love to hear from you more about your own land healing work, and also, as you use these techniques covered in the nine posts, I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and experiences. Blessings!
I really appreciate these essays on land healing. I use what resources I can find to help me live as a druid, and your site is extremely useful.
I’ve been busy starting a refugia and generally setting up the conditions for my yard to become a more diverse ecosystem. (Thankfully, the manager of my trailer park is cool.) But there’s another space I found recently that I can’t turn my back on.
I sort of stumbled across an informal and probably illicit municipal dumping ground on the last Winter Solstice. Not knowing what else to do, I tried to say “I see you” and “Hang in there”. I’ve been planning to go back, better prepared, and do more. These essays have really shown me the possibilities and potentials, and this ninth one ties them together beautifully.
So that’s where I’ll be on the coming Solstice, probably with a friend, certainly with a gift of some home made wine. Hey, I’ve got some St. John’s wort seeds left, I’ll have to remember to take some seed balls. And I’ll listen, and hopefully I’ll be ready to respond appropriately.
By the way, if I may, I have a question. I had given up on the Sphere of Protection until your essay in the Trilithon convinced me to find the symbolism I needed to make it work. I succeeded, in a form that feels both comfortable and powerful. All the basic components are still there, but there was one pretty major substitution.
You see, I use the Four Elements to help me determine and internalize herbal energetics. The practice of ingesting and then meditating on an herb as I experience its effects, using the framework of the Four Elements to help me sort out its energies, is central to my learning experience. I don’t feel that I can make a daily practice of banishing any aspect of the Elements. If there are negative aspects that are normally present, I need to be able to perceive them.
So, in my SOP, I use the energy of colors, as described by JMG in the color breathing section of The Druidry Handbook. Each color is symbolized by a rune that I feel shares its energy. Banishing the negative aspects of, say, red feels balancing and protective. I also use three directions (I always have, the points of sunrise, sunset, and the North Star), so that’s different too.
The question is, Am I still performing the SOP? The Sphere of Protection is an AODA ritual. I know there’s a lot of leeway, but I’ve really taken it to extremes. Is it honest of me to say that I’m performing the SOP, or shall I call it something else?
Thanks in advance, and thank you for all your work.
Hi Ynnothir,
Thanks for your comment :). I’m really glad to hear the work you are doing in your yard and that these posts have been inspirational!
I think you had mentioned that dumping ground on the blog before. I’m glad that I’ve given you a lot of tools to “do something” about it, even on an energetic level! St. John’s wort is one of my favorite brightening plants! A perfect compliment to a dark place :).
On the matter of the SOP: I’m not sure if you have noticed this, but when JMG wrote the SOP ritual, you might notice that it appears differently everywhere he wrote it. So there’s one version on the web, there is another in the Druidry Handbook, another in the Druid Magic Handbook, still another in the GCC handbook, and so on. That was very intentional, although subtle, on his part. The reason for it is simple–it is a ritual that is meant to be adapted.
I think the approach you have described is fascinating–and an herbal energetic approach can certainly be done. I love the idea of ingesting herbs at each of the four directions. I have an herbal version of the SOP where I call them, but your approach is really inspiring and opens it up for big possibilities!
I will say the banishing/ invoking pieces of it were probably strongly inspired by the Golden Dawn and ceremonial magic, which might not be for everyone. The reason it is done is to create balance, but I can see why you don’t feel a need to do it as a daily practice. That’s the standard practice, but again, a lot of people experiment with it!
I’m not sure if you saw this recently on the AODA list, but our new Archdruid, Gordon Cooper, is experimenting with a non-visual version using frequencies of sound, instead, as some people have difficulties with the visuals.
And so, this is all to say, that you have done exactly with the SOP what we had hoped you would–which is to make it uniquely yours, taking the overall structure, and making refinements as fitting your circumstances and personal belief system and individual practice. Using the additional three directions rather than above, below, and within is also ok–you still have the four and the three :). I think you are still doing your own version of the SOP and I commend you for your innovative approach!
In fact, I’d be interested in hearing more about it and how it works for you (consider, for example, writing it up and sending it to Trilithon!) Do consider it :). I hope this is helpful!
I’d be honored to contribute to the Trilithon! Look for my submission within the next few weeks. Be warned, though, you’ll probably have to get out your editor’s pen. Sometimes I phrase things in ways that seem perfectly clear to me, but don’t make much sense to others. Plus, I tend to ramble. 🙂
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Great post.
Hi Dana,
I just had my first ocean swim of the year and I felt fully alive. The sea always does that for me. I used the water ritual you described in a link in this post. i adapted it for ritual bathing before opening a Grove and meditating. I used a free-form version of it with the cold water of the sea enveloping me. I prayed to be restored, to be made strong, to be made loving and so on with each stroke. I came out wonderfully refreshed, faced the east and said Awen. Thank you for being a good and generous teacher.
Yours under the red cedar,
Max Rogers
Thank you so much for this series of posts! It has really helped me work energetically as well as physically on the restoration agriculture/community food sharing garden and wildlife refuge my husband, a group of friends and I are co-creating on 12 acres of land in the Hudson Valley. I am continually adapting the things you’ve written about. Have you thought about publishing it as a book?
You have also inspired me to join AODA- I am working on my application now.
Since someone else wrote about adapting the SOP here and you responded, I also have a question. I have just begun practicing the SOP, using the instructions on the website. Before that I had been doing my own version of invoking the elemental beings, asking them to work with me to bring abundance to all the beings of the lands on which I work. I adapt the elemental breath practices of Hazrat Inayat Khan ( for the last 10+ years I have been a Sufi initiate and teacher in an order called the Sufi Ruhaniat International), as I move around the 4 directions in a mandala garden I’ve created at my home. One part of the SOP that did not resonate was the visualization. I am wonder what you think of substituting specific breath practices for the elemental symbols?
Again I am deeply grateful for this series of posts and for your whole blog. It is deeply inspiring.
Hi Karuna,
Hudson Valley, you say? I’m heading out there the 3rd week of August for my permaculture teacher training class (it’s a week long, at a place called the Omega Institute–how close is that to what you guys are doing?) Would love to see your site!
Glad to hear you are joining the AODA–I look forward to getting to know you more through that work! 🙂
I can answer questions here about the SOP, yes (I would also encourage you to consider joining the AODA Public Yahoo group, that way, other AODA folks working on the SOP can benefit from the discussion!) But, onto your question–we encourage members to make the SOP their own. You aren’t the only person who had difficulty with the visualization; in fact, our Grand Archdruid, Gordon Cooper, is working on several alternatives to the SOP visualization. One involves harmonic resonances at different pitches. So I think that some kind of breathwork could work really well! The other option would be to trace the symbol and then pay attention to that element in the ecosystem. So rather than vizualizing the yellow air symbol, look at the movement of the air, sense it entering and leaving your lungs, etc. I like to do that a lot.
Thank you so much for your kind words about the blog 🙂
Omega’s about 40 minutes from here. I would love to meet you in person! You would be welcome to stay with us overnight or at the very least share a meal with us if you come! Let me know if you have time as your workshop gets closer!
A couple in my food sharing network are Permaculture trainers and have done work at Omega, both week long workshops and the Women in Permaculture gathering. They are having a baby soon so I don’t know if they’re going this year. Perhaps you’ve run across Jared and Lala in your permaculture travelings?
I’ve been doing the SOP daily outside at dawn my mandala garden (that Jared and Lala helped me design and build), adding both the elemental cross and the banishing aspects to what I had been doing before. It has been VERY powerful and feels much more complete. I like the your suggestion about paying attention to the element in the ecosystem and will add that too!
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